Classic Eventing Nation

Oliver Townend has held the #1 ranking since September 2019. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There hasn’t been too much movement on the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings leaderboard lately, for obvious reasons — in fact that haven’t budged an inch since the March 1, 2020 update. Since none of us have been frantically refreshing the Rankings page lately, here’s a reminder of where we’re at:

FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings (updated May 1, 2020):

#1. Oliver Townend🇬🇧 – 554
#2. Tim Price🇳🇿 – 542
#3. Christopher Burton🇦🇺 – 515
#4. Piggy March🇬🇧 – 504
#5. Tom McEwen🇬🇧 – 441
#6. Lauren Nicholson🇺🇸 – 408
#7. Boyd Martin🇺🇸 – 394
#8. Michael Jung🇩🇪 – 377
#9. Cathal Daniels 🇮🇪- 368
#10. Stuart Tinney🇦🇺 – 36

Other U.S. riders inside the top 50 include Doug Payne (#19), Phillip Dutton (#20), Liz Halliday-Sharp (#35), Lynn Symansky (#37) and Tamie Smith (#40). View the complete list here.

Ordinarily, the rankings are based on the riders’ best six performances over the past 12 months. Rankings roll over for a 12-month period; i.e. at the end of each month, the points earned during that month are added to the list and the points from the same month the previous year are dropped. Only the best six scores from the season count towards the final tally.

How, then, to proceed in the face of so many canceled or postponed events?

On April 1, the FEI Board approved the following mitigation policy for the rankings until the calendar returns to “normal”:

Beginning on April 1, 2020 the period during which Ranking points remain valid will be prolonged by one month and will continue to be prolonged for an additional month with each new Ranking until the competition calendar returns to normal worldwide. Points earned in Ranking competitions at events that take place during this period will continue to count; the maximum number of results that may count for each Athlete remains the unchanged. In practical terms, this means:

• The ranking established after 29 February 2020 remains unchanged (points valid for 12 months: best results at events taking place between 1 March 1, 2019 and 29 February 2020)
• The ranking established after 31 March 2020 will be calculated based on the best results at events taking place between 1 March 2019 and 31 March 2020 (points valid for 13 months)
• The ranking established after 30 April 2020 will be calculated based on the best results at events taking place between 1 March 2019 and 30 April 2020 (points valid for 14 months)
• The ranking established after 31 May 2020 will be calculated based on the best results at events taking place between 1 March 2019 and 31 May 2020 (points valid for 15 months)
• and so on until the competition calendar returns to normal.

A working group will recommend to the FEI Board at what point the competition calendar is deemed to have returned to normal worldwide. As of that date, the rankings will continue to be calculated over the extended time frames above, guaranteeing there will always be at least 12 months of normal competitions included in the calculation of the rankings.

The new system provides a level playing field for all our athletes as ranking points can still be earned in countries where the sport is able to continue, regardless of the length of time the current situation lasts, but athletes in countries where the sport is on hold will not lose points. An athlete’s ranking points can only improve, not decrease during this period, as the relevant number of best results in each discipline still applies.

Twelve months after the competition calendar is deemed to have returned to normal globally, the time frame during which ranking points remain valid will be decreased by one month with each new ranking until the standard 12-month rolling timeframe has been reached.

You can view an archive of FEI Board Resolutions & Calendar Task Force Decisions during the Covid-19 affected period here. Resolutions specific to eventing may be viewed here, and we broke them down for you on EN here.

Go Eventing. (Soon-ish?)

2018 AEC Jr. Beginner Novice champions Ella Robinson and Fernhill Fearless des Terdrix. Photo by Leslie Wylie.

With less than 100 days to go, the 2020 USEA American Eventing Championships are still expected to run as planned August 25-30 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

The U.S. Eventing Association and US Equestrian suspension of events will end May 31, 2020, and currently events are expected to be held again starting in June. The USEA in partnership with the Organizing team of Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI) and Mary Fike are working on best practices to make the championships as safe as possible. With these efforts in place, they have urged potential competitors that the 2020 AEC will be a “new normal.”

“We are lucky to have an outstanding organizing team including EEI and Mary Fike and I am incredibly confident in their ability to reduce risk as much as is possible,” said USEA CEO Rob Burk.

“We have already begun planning how we can host the AEC while carefully following local, state, CDC, and WHO guidance. We have studied the USEF COVID-19 Licensed Competition Action Plan and are incorporating it, and we are applying the WHO risk assessment tool to better prepare over the next several months. This AEC is going to be one for the record books, and it will have its own unique feel. The entire team is sensitive to the fact that this needs to be no less special than every other AEC while at the same time implementing new cautionary measures related to COVID-19.”

At present, no alterations have been made to the qualification criteria, but the USEA Board of Governors is evaluating all potential options. The USEA I.T. Department is collecting data to evaluate how many horses and riders may have lost the opportunity to qualify. The standing qualification window is May 27, 2019 – August 18, 2020.

The USEA has confirmed that any changes would be made in the coming weeks.

“Maintaining the safety of the riders and horses remains paramount, followed by ensuring the highest level of competition,” said Rob. “We are analyzing options to maintain a similar size pool of qualified competitors as in previous years. Currently, over 2,200 riders and 2,500 horses are already qualified to compete. The options on the table to alter qualification include, but aren’t limited to, easing placing requirements, allowing those that qualified in 2019 special dispensation, and/or extending the qualifying period earlier in 2019.”

What do you think, EN? Are you planning to attend the 2020 AEC? Let us know in the comments.